Thursday, December 15, 2005

Part OneTwo summers ago, me and the roommates trekked down to Six Flags Over Texas to see our favorite band, Hootie & the Blowfish. I think we might have ridden 2 or 3 roller coasters, before making our way to stand in line for the concert. About 30 minutes before the show is supposed to start, it starts to sprinkle. The rain gradually gets heavier as we continue to stand in line, wondering when they're gonna let us into the ampitheater. We wait for almost an hour, in the rain, with all the other devoted Hootie fans. For the first half hour, the crowd is light-hearted, enjoying the little rain shower and singing Hootie songs to pass the time. The collective mood starts to go south, however, as the sky gets darker, the rain harder, and still no word from the ampitheater. Finally, after what seems like hours, there's news. The show is cancelled, Six Flags is closing. We stand around for a brief moment, hoping that this is some cruel joke, and that the doors will open and let us in. Sadly, it is true, and we sulk back to the entrance of Six Flags with our heads hung low, our clothes soaked through, and free tickets to come back to Six Flags another day (yeah, that's gonna make everything okay). The concert will not be rescheduled, they say. We stop at the entrance to decide what we'll do next, when I overhear a girl say to her boyfriend, "lets get that sign" (as she motions to one of the Hootie concert signs set up in the mall area). In the next second I was 2 steps ahead of them, taking the sign from its wooden frame, and making my way to the parking lot. As we walk past them, the girl says (to her boyfriend), "hey, that's our sign, go get it!" I turn and glare at him, to which he responds, "uhh, you go get it." Yeah right, you just try and take it from me. We drove all the way here from Abilene to stand in the freakin rain for two hours, the sign is mine.

We got to the car, headed to Emily's grandmother's house where she gladly let us use her drier to dry our rain-soaked clothes. Our next stop was Starbucks, and then we started the depressing 3 hour ride home. That sign sat on our mantle until we moved out, a shining testimony to our faithful allegiance to all things Hootie.

Part TwoAbout an hour ago, I got an email from Hootie & the Blowfish saying something about downloading live concert mp3s. I click the ad, and it takes me to their website. It is then that I notice the following: Dec. 15th -- Dallas, TX. WTF? I click on it, and sure enough, they are doing a concert at the Hard Rock with Collective Soul tonight in Dallas. I click the link to the radio station that is sponsoring the concert. Its some benefit for the make-a-wish foundation, and only 350 tickets were sold. They went on sale Nov. 17th. How did I NOT know about this? ME, the queen of concerts?? I click the "listen online" link, and I hear the DJ say, "okay....time to make someone very happy, we are giving away the last 2 tickets to tonight's show, call now!" If you know me at all, you know that I can be unbelievably lucky. I feel for sure that God is indeed smiling on me, so I pick up the office phone, and the cell phone, and feverishly dial away, hoping with all my might to be the correct caller. Busy signal, busy signal, busy, busy, busy....wait! Its ringing! "Mix 102.9 (YESSSS!!!), I'm sorry, we've already got a winner..." *$&#^T@(#)**$#!!!! I hang up the phone, and was seriously so excited/mad/depressed that I was shaking. Is it just not meant to be? Will Hootie and I never cross paths? Sigh...

I found 2 tickets on ebay, but Emily cannot go, as she'll be heading here to finalize her wedding plans (she's getting married Saturday!). And I would not go without her. One of these days, Hootie. One of these days.

Heather, it's so wonderful to have a friend that's as devoted to Hootie as I and who's tough enough to snatch the sign we all earned from a whiny teenager! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled, and since I'm not anticipating any huge events (like a wedding) any time soon I should be able to go with you! I love you and miss having you just across the hall. Happy New Year.